Miro — the free and open Internet TV program that lets everyone participate in making and watching video — has just posted a fantastic update. Version 1.1 includes a new BitTorrent engine that delivers dramatic improvements in download speeds.
Miro combines BitTorrent (a downloading system that gets faster as more people download the same file) with the open VLC video player (which lets you watch every video format without worrying about which program you’re using) and RSS technology, so that you can subscribe to any of thousands of channels and get the new videos when they’re published. Miro comes from the nonprofit Participatory Culture Foundation, who also make Broadcast Machine, a tool that lets anyone publish channels for their own video.
Miro is also hiring hackers and fundraisers, so here’s your chance to help keep the world safe for open video.
(Disclosure: I am on the Board of Directors for the nonprofit Participatory Culture Foundation)